Source: Rally Sprint - Courtesy: _TaniaS_
Showing posts with label ARL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ARL. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Superstar in a new world - Kimi Räikkönen is now a rally man
By Petteri Ala-Kivimäki in Rovaniemi
For many years Kimi Räikkönen earned his living - and a very good living at that - as a Formula One pilot. Now he is a rally driver. That is a good profession for a young man.
I must ask the 2007 Formula One World Champion one thing: my friend’s mother is a bus driver. She prefers the winding back roads of the Tampere suburb of Teisko to motorways. Do you share her sentiments? “Not really. In rally driving there are major and minor roads. It is slightly different”, Räikkönen smiles in a conference room of a Lapland hotel.
On Thursday of last week Räikkönen held a press conference in the northern city of Rovaniemi, where he was about to take part in the 45th Arctic Lapland Rally as a Citroën WRC pilot. For nine years, Räikkönen was a Formula One driver, securing the F1 World Championship in 2007, and winning several Grand Prix races with the glamorous McLaren and Ferrari stables. At the beginning of the year the magazine Red Bulletin asked Räikkönen if there was a single moment that he valued above all others.
"In F1, every lap is more or less the same. It’s more difficult if it rains, but otherwise it soon becomes routine. In rallying, every corner or hill might be different from what you expected. The most fun I’ve had in recent years was fooling around with friends on snow-scooters, for example. I’d find it difficult to pick a single moment from the last nine years”, was Räikkönen’s thorough answer to the publication of his current sponsor [Red Bull].
Räikkönen is like the prodigal son, who has finally returned from the concrete jungle back to the forest. In rally driving the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly. Even the combination of skateboard trainers, a hoodie, and a baseball cap favoured by Räikkönen is closer to being overdressed rather than underdressed.
The now 30-year-old Räikkönen has said that thanks to rally driving he is finding a bit of the young and hungry Kimi in him again.
Having said that, Räikkönen may still return to the Formula One circus in the future. “I have no contract of any kind in any direction for the season after this one. I have a long year ahead of me. One can never know what will happen”, Räikkönen says.
Räikkönen is fond of ice hockey. The Iltalehti late-edition tabloid recently wrote that Räikkönen would be interested in buying the team with a glorious past that is currently in the last place in the SM-Liiga, Finland's premier ice hockey league. Räikkönen vehemently denies such rumours. “Of course I know people from there”, he admits, but the rumours are just that and nothing more. But you bought your nephews a quad bike. Would this not be the time to splash out and treat yourself to the legendary Tampere Ilves hockey team? “That is a no go for me. It is a fine hobby, but I have not been in touch with anybody regarding such matters.”
Räikkönen is a superstar. This time, however, he knows perfectly well that he is not yet racing for victory, for he still has a lot to learn. Räikkönen is only now acquainting himself with the ways of what is a new world for him. “I am not really nervous. It will be nice to get to drive. It will be a flow of new things. But when you compete for the first time and immediately you are supposed to go fast… well, that is the issue. How will it go when I do not have that many rallies under my belt?”
It didn't go too badly. Räikkönen had one excursion into a snowdrift that blighted his chances of finishing among the leaders in the Arctic Lapland Rally, but his times were otherwise quite promising. He will be taking part in the WRC Rally of Sweden from February 11th-14th.
Source:Helsingin Sanomat
Courtesy of sleenS2S Planet-F1 Forum
For many years Kimi Räikkönen earned his living - and a very good living at that - as a Formula One pilot. Now he is a rally driver. That is a good profession for a young man.I must ask the 2007 Formula One World Champion one thing: my friend’s mother is a bus driver. She prefers the winding back roads of the Tampere suburb of Teisko to motorways. Do you share her sentiments? “Not really. In rally driving there are major and minor roads. It is slightly different”, Räikkönen smiles in a conference room of a Lapland hotel.
On Thursday of last week Räikkönen held a press conference in the northern city of Rovaniemi, where he was about to take part in the 45th Arctic Lapland Rally as a Citroën WRC pilot. For nine years, Räikkönen was a Formula One driver, securing the F1 World Championship in 2007, and winning several Grand Prix races with the glamorous McLaren and Ferrari stables. At the beginning of the year the magazine Red Bulletin asked Räikkönen if there was a single moment that he valued above all others.
"In F1, every lap is more or less the same. It’s more difficult if it rains, but otherwise it soon becomes routine. In rallying, every corner or hill might be different from what you expected. The most fun I’ve had in recent years was fooling around with friends on snow-scooters, for example. I’d find it difficult to pick a single moment from the last nine years”, was Räikkönen’s thorough answer to the publication of his current sponsor [Red Bull].
Räikkönen is like the prodigal son, who has finally returned from the concrete jungle back to the forest. In rally driving the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly. Even the combination of skateboard trainers, a hoodie, and a baseball cap favoured by Räikkönen is closer to being overdressed rather than underdressed.
The now 30-year-old Räikkönen has said that thanks to rally driving he is finding a bit of the young and hungry Kimi in him again.
Having said that, Räikkönen may still return to the Formula One circus in the future. “I have no contract of any kind in any direction for the season after this one. I have a long year ahead of me. One can never know what will happen”, Räikkönen says.
Räikkönen is fond of ice hockey. The Iltalehti late-edition tabloid recently wrote that Räikkönen would be interested in buying the team with a glorious past that is currently in the last place in the SM-Liiga, Finland's premier ice hockey league. Räikkönen vehemently denies such rumours. “Of course I know people from there”, he admits, but the rumours are just that and nothing more. But you bought your nephews a quad bike. Would this not be the time to splash out and treat yourself to the legendary Tampere Ilves hockey team? “That is a no go for me. It is a fine hobby, but I have not been in touch with anybody regarding such matters.”
Räikkönen is a superstar. This time, however, he knows perfectly well that he is not yet racing for victory, for he still has a lot to learn. Räikkönen is only now acquainting himself with the ways of what is a new world for him. “I am not really nervous. It will be nice to get to drive. It will be a flow of new things. But when you compete for the first time and immediately you are supposed to go fast… well, that is the issue. How will it go when I do not have that many rallies under my belt?”
It didn't go too badly. Räikkönen had one excursion into a snowdrift that blighted his chances of finishing among the leaders in the Arctic Lapland Rally, but his times were otherwise quite promising. He will be taking part in the WRC Rally of Sweden from February 11th-14th.
Source:Helsingin Sanomat
Courtesy of sleenS2S Planet-F1 Forum
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
ONE EXPERIENCE RICHER
Kimi Arctic Lapland Rally review in Finnish
The Arctic rally came and went. I'm in a good mood and one experience richer.
We had a good test before we went to Rovaniemi. It gave me a good feeling and more trust in the car once we got all bits and pieces and seats in order. The basic setup was done and we went to Tunturi to get as many kilometers under our belts as we could possibly get. Nothing more.
It was good that Sordo was there. We got the benchmark we had hoped for so we would know exactly where we stand at the moment.
In the final games we saw how much behind Sordo we were but after we reeled in those things we also knew the reason for it. All we now need is more kilometers and we'll find it from there.
There was this one blunder when we drove out during the second stage. It was completely my own blunder. I misheard the note and after that it didn't bend back anymore.
Fortunately we made it with small damages and managed to get back. Thank you to the shovel-men for helping.
The roads were quite cool! It was also nice to see how big the gangs by the routes supporting us were.
When me-myself have only five rallies in the meter the times in Tunturi weren't a catastrophy. When I learn something new everytime I drive we get closer to the lead. We'll see how close we are during the midseason.
From this basis it's nice to go to Sweden. We'll see there what our pace is but the serie is only beginning. At least we will go faster than we did in the practice race.
Just as a tip, remember to check out the video clips beside. They are rolling the Iceman's adventures in Lapland and we are reeling in how things went in Tunturi.
Next stop is the FIA-info in Paris, press and photos. After that we will only concentrate on Sweden rally.
There it will be just like in Indy - Gentlemen, start your engines!
Source: kimiraikkonen.com
Courtesy: Nicole Planet-F1
The Arctic rally came and went. I'm in a good mood and one experience richer.
We had a good test before we went to Rovaniemi. It gave me a good feeling and more trust in the car once we got all bits and pieces and seats in order. The basic setup was done and we went to Tunturi to get as many kilometers under our belts as we could possibly get. Nothing more.
It was good that Sordo was there. We got the benchmark we had hoped for so we would know exactly where we stand at the moment.
In the final games we saw how much behind Sordo we were but after we reeled in those things we also knew the reason for it. All we now need is more kilometers and we'll find it from there.
There was this one blunder when we drove out during the second stage. It was completely my own blunder. I misheard the note and after that it didn't bend back anymore.
Fortunately we made it with small damages and managed to get back. Thank you to the shovel-men for helping.
The roads were quite cool! It was also nice to see how big the gangs by the routes supporting us were.
When me-myself have only five rallies in the meter the times in Tunturi weren't a catastrophy. When I learn something new everytime I drive we get closer to the lead. We'll see how close we are during the midseason.
From this basis it's nice to go to Sweden. We'll see there what our pace is but the serie is only beginning. At least we will go faster than we did in the practice race.
Just as a tip, remember to check out the video clips beside. They are rolling the Iceman's adventures in Lapland and we are reeling in how things went in Tunturi.
Next stop is the FIA-info in Paris, press and photos. After that we will only concentrate on Sweden rally.
There it will be just like in Indy - Gentlemen, start your engines!
Source: kimiraikkonen.com
Courtesy: Nicole Planet-F1
Monday, February 1, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Race-engineer praises Räikkönen’s detailed work
Kimi Räikkönen’s race-engineer, Cedric Mazenq, in Citroen Junior Team thanks the Finnish driver for giving very detailed feedback on the rally-car’s settings. In F1 Räikkönen is used to set up his car very precisely.
- He notices a lot of details because he has learnt in F1 to do detailed work. He is able to help the team improve the car, Mazenq says to MTV3 about what kind of first-impression Räikkönen gave him.
Citroen-team has offered in Arctic-rally many different kinds of set-up options for Räikkönen to try out so that the Iceman gets experience on what kind of adjustments are best for him.
- This rally is a test for Kimi. It is follow-up for the test we drove last week in Jyväskylä area. The goal of this rally is to find the initial settings for the Swedish WRC-rally, Mazenq emphasizes.
For Arctic-rally the Citroen-team’s goal has been to make Kimi a car that is the easiest possible to drive.
- In the beginning the most important for him is that he gets confidence in his car. This is a new world for him. We do our best so that we help him learn about the car, the route and the notes. There are a lot of differences between rally and F1 but he is taking them with an open mind, Mazenq tells.
Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Leijona @OF
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Kimi Räikkönen took the blame on himself for driving out during the second stage.
- I heard the note wrong and we drove into the snow bank because of it, Räikkönen admitted to MTV3.It cost Kimi about half an hour.
- There was a tree, about as thick as a leg, and we went through it. Those things happen. That's why we came here, so that we could screw up everything that can be screwed up and learn from that. So that we wouldn't have to do the same mistakes in the upcoming races, Räikkönen said.
On the dark stage Räikköen had problems with visibility.
- It was difficult because it was snowing so I didn't see well. Our lights were a bit too high.
- On one stage the crossroad went a bit far and we had to back.
Räikkönen has been about one second per kilometer behind Dani Sordo on stages without problems.-
I see it myself, that I pump up quite a lot and hustle this and that but the times are pretty OK. I think it will start to go better. I could probably go faster if I would drive seriously but the main thing is that we could learn all different things. We can destroy this car now, Kimi said.
Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Nicole Planet-F1
Raikkonen crashes on Arctic Rally
Finland's 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen has crashed on his first competitive event driving for the Citroen Junior World Rally Team. Raikkonen was placed second overall in the Arctic Lapland Rally when his car left the road and crashed into a tree on the event's second stage, the 23km Aittajärvi.
Kimi and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom were unhurt in the incident, but their C4 World Rally Car sustained damage to its right-hand front corner. With help from spectators the pair eventually got the car back on the road and underway again, but the episode cost them more than 20 minutes and could bring an end to their day.
The team is hoping that once the car is repaired, Raikkonen will be able to continue in today's competition, or re-start on Saturday.
Raikkonen and Lindstrom are tackling the winter event, the opening round of the Finnish championship, as a warm-up before their WRC campaign kicks off in Sweden on 11 February.
It is the first competitive outing for the duo in the Citroen C4 World Rally Car they will campaign this season. However it's not a new event for the pair, who made their rally debut together there in 2009, finishing 13th in a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000.
Before the crash, Raikkonen had got off to a good start. In perfect snowy conditions, and in a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius, he recorded the second fastest time though Friday's opening stage, the 11.27km Rantasipi Pohjanhovi / Mäntyvaara. The only man to beat him - by a margin of 5.5sec - was his fellow Citroen C4 driver, Dani Sordo, who is also using the event as a pre-season test.
After two stages, Sordo, now the sole World Rally Car driver in the predominantly Group N field, leads the rally by 26.1sec from the Estonian, Ott Tanak.
Source: WRC.com
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